TV watchers who don’t fast-forward through the commercials that break up their shows and have been anxiously awaiting for Canada’s broadcast regulator to crack down on the loudness of those ads can start celebrating on Saturday.

That’s when the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s new rules requiring broadcasters and television service distributors to control the loudness of television commercials come into force.

“Starting on September 1, Canadians will be able to enjoy their favourite television programs without having to adjust the volume during commercial breaks,” Jean-Pierre Blais, chairman of the CRTC, said in a statement Thursday. “We appreciate the efforts undertaken by the broadcasting industry to conform to the new standard and ensure that programs and commercials are transmitted at a similar volume.”

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The broadcast regulator stepped in last year after concluding that market forces would not quickly remedy consumer discontent over sudden increases in volume as shows paused for commercial breaks.

On Thursday, the CRTC said broadcasters and television service providers of digital signals must now adhere to an objective international standard for measuring and controlling television signals, but noted that that loudness is “a perception that is dependent on a number of factors” including the nature of the show that is being watched.

“Some frequencies are perceived to be soothing, while others are more irritating to the human ear. As a result, a commercial can be broadcast at a similar volume, or audio level, as the program that preceded it, but perceived to be of different loudness,” the broadcast regulator said.

Viewers who believe that a commercial is broadcast after Sept. 1 at an excessively loud volume should first take up the matter with the broadcaster and cable or satellite TV company, but can then complain to the CRTC if the issue is not resolved, the regulator said.

The CRTC noted that while the United States will adopt the same international standard by the end of the year, viewers watching over-the-air signals of American television stations may be exposed to “excessively loud ads” until that time.